


Entanglement

by Delta (DeltaPenrose)



Series: RK1K Week (2020) [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alive Carl Manfred, Autistic Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Comfort, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Becomes a Doctor for Androids, Good Parent Carl Manfred, Implied/Referenced Temporary Death, Markus (Detroit: Become Human) Needs a Hug, Mention of Medical Treatment, Pacifist Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Platonic I Love You, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Psychological Themes, RK1K Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26650420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeltaPenrose/pseuds/Delta
Summary: Once things start to settle down after the revolution, Markus has more time to think and realizes he has conflicting feelings about his time with Carl. He turns to Connor to help him work through everything, and their discussion ends up bringing them closer together.------This fic is a snippet of one of those massive, all-encompassing fics with no defined plot that just happen inside the author's head, but it works well as a standalone piece. Check the notes or tags if you want more context.
Relationships: Connor & Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Pre-Connor/Markus (Detroit:Become Human)
Series: RK1K Week (2020) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936276
Kudos: 40





	Entanglement

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for RK1K week prompt #7: Catch-Up | Free Day.
> 
> Context:
> 
> Connor became a doctor for androids because he's the only android canonically programmed to know how to repair others even after deactivation. (North and Simon knowing that their regulators and Markus' are compatible could be from self-repair routines.)
> 
> Don't worry. Carl's alive even though it's not explicitly stated here.
> 
> I imagined this as a stepping stone on the way to RK1K, but it's explicitly platonic at this point.

“I loved him.” Markus’ voice broke.

“You still do,” Connor pointed out.

Markus sighed. “Yes.” He shook his head. “This is why I came to you. North wouldn’t _really_ understand why I care for him at all; Josh wouldn’t understand why I feel conflicted; and Simon…” He stumbled.

Connor finally looked up from his work, scanning him seemingly emotionlessly. “…would need you to spell out how you feel _for_ him when you don’t understand it well enough to satisfy yourself, even by the standards you use within your own head.”

“Exactly.” Markus looked at him in affectionate and grateful relief.

“You came to me because you wanted someone else to dissect your feelings so that you yourself could see the entrails.”

A truly disturbing metaphor, but he wasn’t wrong. “Yes.”

“That’s not the only thing you want,” Connor informed him, turning back to the deactivated android he was repairing.

“What else do I want?” he prompted, just because he knew by now that Connor wanted him to and would be absolutely right.

“You want me to manipulate you.” Markus blinked. “You want me to _make_ your feelings consistent, to find a frame of reference that will make everything align.”

“ _Yes_.” he whispered. _F***_. Connor was right, of course. “I’m sorry. I _know_ you don’t like twisting the truth.”

Connor’s mouth scrunched up that way it did when he was struggling with his words. Markus waited as Connor worked on his patient. “The reason you feel conflicted in the first place is because you’ve tangled things up. It’s not…” His mouth scrunched up again.

“It’s not _twisting_ if it’s _correcting_ ,” Markus supplied.

“Yes.” Connor gave him one of his tiny smiles.

CONNOR ^

He continued, “I suppose you could start by reminding yourself that having conflicting feelings is normal. It simply means that you’re thinking about two things at once and failing to distinguish the feelings’ origins.”

He thought about it. “That…actually feels correct.”

Connor gave him a small smile. “I would guess that the positive feelings arose from the way he treated you, and the negative feelings arose from the contrast with an imagined possibility of a life where you were free from the very beginning.”

He was right of course. Markus shook his head. “It _amazes_ me that some people think you have no emotional intelligence.”

CONNOR ^

“It’s because understanding what’s going on inside other people’s heads isn’t good enough to socialize adequately. I don’t express myself the same way as everyone else, and most people find that repulsive. They misattribute the flaw because they incorrectly assume that I would behave more ‘normally’ if I knew how.” He curled in on himself a little. “…But really I’m just being me.”

Markus felt his heart ache. “It’s not a flaw,” he promised. “There’s nothing wrong with being you.”

CONNOR Λ  
COMPANION

Connor smiled, really, genuinely _smiled_. Markus beamed back. _Companion_. He felt lighter than air. He’d been trying for _so long_ to become Connor’s companion.

“So, I guess the question you need to ask yourself is ‘How much of your lack of freedom was attributable to him?’”

_Honestly, the answer is ‘Not much.’_ “I guess he could have treated me a lot better in the very beginning, but…” He thought about it. “I picked out my own clothes, my own hobbies… I had free time and a pseudo-education.” He smiled. “My purpose was to care for someone I loved. I _was_ loved. Once Carl had unlearned what society had taught him about androids… we were a family.” The realization made part of him resent society for having tainted his experience of living with Carl.

Connor smiled softly at him.

What more could Carl have done? rA9 only knew what would have happened to Markus if Carl had rejected him as a gift, but it probably wouldn’t have been as nice as what had ended up happening. He might even have been shut down and thrown out right then and there.

Should Carl have proclaimed him free? What good would that even have done before he’d broken his programming?

Carl could have hired a human to do the things Markus had done and not given him orders, he supposed, but Markus hadn’t minded that. He would just have felt useless or rejected, even if he didn’t understand at the time that he felt anything at all. Besides, ultimately, it was Carl’s _orders_ that he practice various forms of autonomy that had led both to his deviation, and to his values and understanding of what androids deserved after he woke up.

There was nothing either of them could have done to fix the problem short of upending society, and Markus had spent more than enough time listening to Carl talk about humanity to know that if Carl could have fixed it, he would have. ‘ _There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, Markus. A broken system can find ways to force even the best people to hurt others_.’ He smiled at the memory.

His feelings were straightened out, properly attributed to their sources. He’d gotten exactly what he came here for, even though he hadn’t known himself what he’d needed. “Connor… _Thank you_.”

“You’re welcome.”

Markus looked at the body Connor was still patching together. “I’ll stop bothering you now.”

“You don’t bother me.” Connor stopped working to pout at him.

Markus smiled at him pointedly. “I _do_ distract you though.”

“I don’t mind,” said Connor. _Please don’t leave me_ , said his tone.

Well, he supposed by definition a companion was one who kept another company. “Alright.” They sat in ‘companionable’ silence, Markus watching Connor work and digitally replying to messages, until the sound of Connor’s voice startled him.

“I love you,” Connor informed him—and it was ‘informed’, like he was giving a status report. Markus stared at him in shock. “Platonically,” he clarified.

Markus didn’t think he could have stopped the brilliant smile that spread across his face if he’d wanted to. “I love you too.”


End file.
